Chapter 12
“Excuse me, Sir Knights.”
The person who opened the door and entered was Anne.
Both men were a little surprised to see someone they had not expected.
“What is it?”
The nanny looked clearly frightened.
That was understandable.
The two knights had already explained why they had come.
Anyone would be shocked to hear that the young lady they had served was actually a Possessor.
On top of that, she had already seen the two knights questioning Anais.
“Did they come here to report the Possessor?”
But unlike what Elliot expected, the nanny carefully spoke.
“I know you are important people, but… may I say something?”
What the nanny revealed was surprising.
“The truth is… I also thought something was strange about a year ago.”
She clearly remembered Anais’s nineteenth birthday.
Anais had been badly sick with a spring cold.
Even though it was the birthday she had looked forward to so much, she sat there with a gloomy expression.
There was one reason why the nanny remembered that day so well.
“When Miss said she couldn’t even tell which dresses and shoes were fashionable anymore, everyone in the Fleur family was completely shocked. Our young lady always acted elegant in front of others, but she never hid anything from her family!”
Of course…
She smiled brightly when she saw the nineteen pieces of jewelry her grandfather had given her.
That reassured everyone.
But around that time…
Anais strangely seemed to have no energy.
It also looked like she was hiding many things.
“So?”
Atlas asked.
The nanny answered with a trembling voice.
“I simply thought Miss was going through a late teenage phase. After all… girls her age were already getting married or engaged. Even if she was a precious young lady…”
“Are dresses and shoes really that important?”
Atlas scratched his chin.
The nanny sighed.
“For young ladies at that age… they really are.”
Anyway…
The nanny noticed that the young lady who had once been like a princess had changed.
Even so…
She never imagined she was a Possessor.
She had become a little more clever.
She spoke more sharply.
But Anais had always shown her true self only to the nanny.
Sometimes she would whisper,
“I actually don’t like her.”
Or,
“That young lady is so mean, don’t you think?”
Then she would quietly teach those unpleasant girls a small lesson.
So the nanny never thought it was anything serious.
“She stopped acting childish and became very busy. I thought she had simply become more mature. But somehow… she wasn’t just a little annoying anymore. She became cruel. By the time I thought I should tell the Master and Madam… it was already too late.”
The owners of the Fleur estate—Anais’s parents—were not in Belfast.
Shortly after Anais’s nineteenth birthday, everyone believed they had gone to care for an elderly family member who had become ill with dementia.
Normally…
The servants managed most noble family businesses.
So the nanny never thought much about it.
But later…
She found out the truth.
Anais herself had forced her parents to leave.
That was when the nanny realized something was wrong.
“Our young lady could be a little difficult… but she was never this cruel.”
She could only pray that Anais would return to normal.
“Then… a miracle happened.”
“What do you mean?”
Elliot slightly raised his eyebrow.
Even while trembling, the nanny answered firmly.
“Miss came back.”
She had noticed Anais had changed greatly.
Yet she never imagined it was because of a Possessor.
Then…
After Anais was struck by lightning at the harbor and brought back unconscious…
The nanny suddenly wondered.
“Did Heaven punish my young lady?”
“……”
“……”
The two knights quietly looked at each other before looking away again.
The nanny continued.
“Then yesterday… after Miss woke up, she said she couldn’t remember anything.”
Until then…
The nanny believed Anais had simply lost her memory because of the lightning.
She comforted her.
But suddenly…
She remembered something.
“Nanny… Anais is going to faint for a moment…”
Just as Anais was about to collapse…
She suddenly opened her eyes.
“Nanny. I have a favor to ask.”
“Yes, Miss?”
“Don’t ever read my diary.”
“W-What? Miss!”
“Then… Anais is going to faint again…”
Then…
She quietly collapsed once more.
The nanny covered her mouth in shock.
“Our young lady has returned!”
“I know I sound like a crazy person… but it’s true.”
Standing before the two stunned knights, the nanny clasped her hands together.
“The way she acted was so obviously forced!”
“Miss Anne… are you saying…”
Atlas hurriedly tried to interrupt.
But the nanny spoke even faster.
“She really is our Miss!”
“……”
“No one could copy her!”
“That forced way of moving!”
“That high voice!”
“……”
Was she joking?
Elliot slightly frowned.
But the nanny clenched her fists and spoke with complete confidence.
“And after hearing what you knights said… I became certain.”
“That Possessor had been living inside our young lady all this time!”
“……”
“No wonder everything felt so strangely natural!”
Anne proudly continued listing examples.
“Do you know what our young lady is really like? The first thing she does after waking up is look in the mirror! She never wakes up early! She only gets out of bed after the sun is already high in the sky! Visitors always have to wait at least two hours! And she absolutely loves pink dresses!”
For nearly a year…
The young lady had been waking up early every morning.
She went outside busily.
She eagerly met visitors.
“That was completely abnormal!”
Listening to all this…
Elliot suddenly felt dizzy.
“Normally… waking up early and meeting many people is considered a good thing, isn’t it?”
Then he understood.
The Possessor had simply gotten up early every morning…
To scam people.
She met many people…
To scam even more people.
His headache became twice as bad.
Meanwhile…
Atlas kept nodding.
“Hm… yes, that is strange. Noble young ladies usually don’t like waking up early.”
“Exactly, Sir Knight! Our young lady was always busy attending parties late into the night! Of course that swindler also held parties!”
“……”
“But do you know how stingy those parties were? She reused the same curtains! She even removed the tea food because she said nobody ate it and it was a waste of money!”
“Our young lady isn’t that stingy!”
After complaining for quite a while…
Atlas finally smiled and said,
“It’s already late. Why don’t you get some rest?”
Only then did the nanny leave.
Atlas closed the door and sighed.
“So… what do you think?”
“I don’t know about the rest.”
Elliot, who had barely spoken while the nanny was talking, rubbed his face roughly.
Then he continued.
“Anais Fleur…”
“Yes?”
“Even if she wasn’t possessed…”
“…She’s not exactly an easy person?”
Atlas chuckled.
Even Elliot let out a helpless laugh.
In short…
Anais Fleur had always been a lazy noble lady.
Self-centered.
Obsessed with her appearance.
Yet for the past year…
She had acted nothing like herself.
“But even if she isn’t a very likable person… we can’t treat her carelessly.”
“Commander.”
Those were the nanny’s words.
She had known Anais since childhood.
Even if her testimony wasn’t perfect…
Elliot had already made his decision.
“I’ve decided.”
“……”
Originally…
Elliot was never kind to Possessors.
He would listen to them briefly.
Once he confirmed they were Possessors…
He immediately used the Black Dragon’s power to put them to sleep and take them away.
Because Possessors always resisted.
But this time…
He decided not to do that.
“I’ll take her to the Black Dragon.”
“But exactly as she is.”
“Sigh…”
Atlas held his forehead.
There were many reasons.
Anais had been unable to lie because Elliot had used the Word of Command.
She might have suffered pain she would never have experienced if not for him.
But more than anything…
Elliot remembered what Anais had said.
“Proving something that never happened is truly difficult. When nothing happens… nothing is left behind as proof.”
He knew someone who had once been forced to prove exactly that.
And he also knew how their story had ended.
Princess Ridens.
The previous Commander of the Azure Dragon Knights.
How those two had become connected.
And…
And…
Elliot lightly shook his head to clear those thoughts away.
Then he forced himself to think about Anais instead.
“If you must take Anais away and cut off her head… then do it.”
If Anais stood before the Black Dragon after saying those words…
What would happen?
The Black Dragon always said the only way to repair the cracks in the world was to separate the Possessor’s soul and send it back beyond the Rainbow.
It sounded reasonable.
But in the end…
It still meant killing someone.
“The Black Dragon will be able to tell the two souls apart.”
“But…”
“If she truly isn’t the Possessor… then even putting her to sleep by force would be unjust.”
Atlas looked at his commander with tired eyes.
Personally…
He just wanted to throw Anais Fleur into the Black Dragon’s mouth and finish the whole matter.
But once this stubborn man had made up his mind…
There was no changing it.
Atlas slowly shook his head.
“All right. For someone who kicked open another family’s bedroom door this morning… this is a surprisingly peaceful ending.”
After saying that…
He narrowed his eyes.
Even so…
He felt he should say one more thing.
“Be careful.”
“With what?”
Elliot looked at him in confusion.
Atlas shrugged.
“Pity can sometimes be the most unfair emotion of all.”
“I’ve seen you pity people before, Commander…”
“And it has never ended well for you.”
With those words…
Bang!
The door closed.
Elliot folded his arms and stared at the door for a moment.
Then he leaned back against the sofa.
He wanted to rest.
It had been a long day for him.
But…
He had no idea that the days waiting ahead would be far longer than this one.
